Tesla Motors Abandons Suit Against Fisker Automotive

But things remain tense, and the electric car biz is likely to only get more cut-throat. Gee, I thought electric sports cars were all about saving the planet, not tawdry details like profit and trade secrets.

CNet: Tesla Motors loses trade secrets case against Fisker

Electric car company Tesla Motors will not continue its trade secret suit against rival car maker Fisker Automotive, following an arbitrator's ruling in Fisker's favor.
Fisker Automotive said on Monday that an arbitrator found an interim award in favor of Fisker Automotive and the auto design company which had done work for Tesla last year.
Tesla's communications manager on Monday said that the company will not pursue the case because the arbitrator's ruling was binding.

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It's always nice to meet other blogs

We at the Global Headquarters of Lee Distad's Professional Opinion would like to extend our deepest thanks to both Overlawyered and ClassActionBlawg.com, a pair of legal blogs who were kind enough to link to my earlier snide commentary about the pending class action suit by problem gamblers against the Quebec gaming commission.

If you enjoy thoughtful commentary about legal proceedings (as I do), then head on over to both Overlawyered and ClassActionBlawg to sample their wares.

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Nintendo sued over patent infringements

Not a lot of detail available yet, but tech company Hillcrest Labs is suing Nintendo for patent infringement related to the Wii motion controllers, and is seeking to block the Wii's import into the U.S.

CE Pro: Nintendo Sued Over Wii Patents, Hillcrest Labs Seeks to Block Imports

Hillcrest's patents at issue are U.S. Patent Nos. 7,158,118, 7,262,760, and 7,414,611, which relate to a handheld three-dimensional pointing device, and U.S. Patent No. 7,139,983, which relates to a navigation interface display system that graphically organizes content for display on a television. Since 2001, Hillcrest Labs has pioneered technology that allows consumers to interact with digital media on television using motion-control and pointing techniques. The company holds 29 patents in this area worldwide, and has filled for more than 100 related patents.
Leading consumer electronics companies, not all of whom have been disclosed publicly, have already licensed Hillcrest's technology for use in their products. While Hillcrest Labs has a great deal of respect for Nintendo and the Wii, Hillcrest Labs believes that Nintendo is in clear violation of its patents and has taken this action to protect its intellectual property rights. Given the current status of the filings, the company will not disclose any additional details about the matter at this time.

Regardless of any other considerations, the plaintiff took their time before filing this suit. I wonder if the delay was due to the need to reverse engineer the Wii controller in order to identify whether or not their patents were infringed upon, or if they wanted to wait and see how much money would be on the table before bringing suit.

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Monster Threatens To Sue Blue Jeans Cable, Blue Jeans Cable Bites Back

Monster, deserving or not, has developed a reputation in recent years for pursuing bully litigation against small fish in the pond, ostensibly to protect their trademarks.

Audioholics has a fantastic news post that prints, in full, the written response to Monster's Cease & Desist letter from Blue Jeans Cable president Kurt Denke who, as it happens, spent 19 years as a pitbull-type damages attorney before he got into the wire biz.

Audioholics: Blue Jeans Cable Strikes Back - Response to Monster Cable

In informal legal speak, his response is called a PFO letter, and while lengthy it's worth every minute you spend reading it.

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Sharp sues Samsung over LCD patent infringement

TWICE: Sharp Files LCD Infringement Lawsuit Against Samsung

Sharp Corp. filed a lawsuit today alleging infringements of five of its patents on LCD-related technology by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) and its U.S. subsidiaries Samsung Electronics America (SEA) and Samsung Telecommunications America (STA) in the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas.
The complaint alleges that the following products infringe LCD-related patents that are owned by Sharp: liquid crystal display (LCD) modules manufactured by Samsung and sold in the United States by Samsung; LCD TVs and LCD monitors which incorporate the LCD modules manufactured by Samsung and are sold in the U.S. by SEA; and mobile phones which incorporate the LCD modules manufactured by Samsung and are sold in the U.S. by STA.
In the complaint, Sharp requests that the Court award compensatory damages to Sharp and prohibit the sales of the infringing products. Sharp also requests a jury trial.

Less tech savy readers may wonder why it's taken this long to go to tort. After all, how many ways are there to manufacture LCD panels?

Surprisingly, quite a few. Sharp still remains the industry leader in LCD technology, and last week announced their 10th generation panel technology. Most other makers are only using 7th or 8th Gen processes. This is, in simple terms, why Sharp's video displays are visibly superior to any of the other LCD brands that I have ever taken a hard look at.

Ultimately though, it all comes down to money. It was only a matter of time before another manufacturer stepped on Sharp's toes, intentionally or otherwise. As the article states, Sharp and Samsung have been negotiating a licencing agreement since last year. Now apparently at an impasse, Sharp has chosen hardball as their next negotiating tactic. I would expect Samsung to settle quietly before the end of the year.

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